Dd4 managed to write her name this week, after months of practice doing capital letters. After she’d finished the 6 letters of her name, she looked up and beamed. Our living room had never been brighter.
This is the choice I make.
To
spread sun and
fields over tiled roofs,
crumple
glass panes into
dandelions,
unfold plumes and
strengthen roots,
trace eternity in
tiny wet footprints.
Filed under: Homeschool Journal on June 25th, 2009 | No Comments »
Joy (dd8) took part in the Creative Writing Course that I taught during the school hols. One of the writing assignments included responding to a prompt :
“It was the brightest day in August. The sun was a golden orb that was about to set and the late evening breezes swept me along the forest path. My map, compass, laptop and food supplies were tucked tightly in my bag. They weighed like twenty rocks but my heart was light. I was sure I was going to find the fake coins today.
Ahead of me was a clump of trees, arching like guards at the doors of the Deep Forest. I went ahead with the dying sunshine behind my back.”
Joy continued the rest of the story and came up with , what I thought was a first rate adventure. (As you read this, remember that no alterations were made to her ideas and corrections were confined to grammar.)
” I knew I had had to find that relic. But I also felt a cold, sweaty fear, even thought my German shepherd, Toby, was with me. The reason I was afraid was because the whole, forest seemed to come alive. The trees ‘ arms crawled towards me. I was terrified.
I could see silhouettes of the tress looming towards me. I could hear the sound of squirrels, mice and rats scuffling. I could feel the dried branches cracking under my feet. And I could also taste the wet drizzle on my tongue. My dog, Toby, was also getting tense. The hairs on his neck stood up. Tension was piling up. I as afraid we were lost. It was too dark to see my compass.
I walked closer to where I thought was the way out. Then I saw a cave. There was a stone outside the cave. On the stone as carved the name, Chee Weng Giap. I was relieved. We were not lost.
As I went into the cave, I saw the sharp spikes and deep holes. “WE had better be careful here, Toby,” I told my dog. As we carefully entered the cave, I smelt the pungency of the rats’ urine and dung. I could hear the deep groaning of the rats which had fallen into the holes. I grabbed the wall where I almost fell into the hole. The walls felt rough. I tasted the dripping from the leaking ceiling.
I could not find anything . Then, I saw a small wooden, chest. I went over and I lifted the lid. And I saw the gold coins.. Fake, they were, but very beautiful. They were a glittering gold, but they did not have rust at all. They smelt old, but when I touched them. They were smooth.
Then I put the relic in my backpack. Just as I was about to leave the room, the ceiling began to crumble. The walls fell down all around me. Toby started to pull me. “Harder, harder, “ I cried to Toby. He pulled and I pushed. Then, at last, we made it out of the cave! I was overjoyed. But the relic, was it safe? I checked. Good, it was.
Then I went home at last to rest. Toby and I were safe. And the relic was safe too. I was so glad. I had found the lost treasure.”
She, along with the rest of her classmates, wrote this unaided. I collected their compositions, checked them and conferred with the children as to how they could work on their writing skills. I’ll be putting up a website/blog of the children’s work later on.
Filed under: Homeschool Journal on June 5th, 2009 | 4 Comments »
I spent most of last week scribbling down ideas and putting together lesson plans. I also overdosed on preserved guava and Nescafe (decaff), not to mention chocolate cream cakes and Bulla’s Neapolitan ice-cream. These were part of the preparation for what would happen the week after. I was a knight training for battle, or a princess hatching an escape from a maleficent sorcerer into the deserts of the Eastern Mountains. I was going to teach for four mornings in a row for the first time in years. I had to be ready and armed.
As it turned out, I had the time of my life and so did the kids. I had not expected them to be so eager and vibrant. A bright lot they were, pencils in hand , eyes alight with mischief and fresh enthusiasm. Together, they ploughed through new concepts such as metaphors and personification. They yanked verbs out of boring sentences and replaced them with words that rollicked, roiled and breathed. They played games and went wild in the spacious yard where the classes were held. They composed and painted.
I needn’t have worried after all. My good friend, J Quah, was right in that teaching is like riding a bicycle. I was afraid that I had lost the ability to teach after putting it in cold storage for 8 years. I discovered- to my great joy and wonder- that I hadn’t. What a piece of sky! I am brimming with gratefulness for the gift given, and the gift shared.
Filed under: Homeschool Journal on June 4th, 2009 | No Comments »
Filed under: Exploring Culture on May 27th, 2009 | No Comments »
Filed under: Exploring Culture on May 25th, 2009 | No Comments »
Last month my editor gently asked me if I wanted to change my byline to something else besides: “Stay at home mum”. I realize that “stay at home mom” is grossly misleading, as I know many moms in this category, like me, spend a good deal of time on the road, in the park and in the waiting rooms of ballet centres and music studios.You might even find a handful of specimens in car workshops and libraries, reading books to themselves(for a change).
Nevertheless, I was rather flummoxed, nonplussed, puzzled. Should I change the byline to something that more accurately describes me? Furnish some details about my academic qualifications and love for music, literature and theological learning?
The obvious thing to do would be to ask the man why he’d suggested the change. The worst thing about absent-minded humans like me is that I can never remember to pop the question until the person is removed from my presence and I am in the midst of something horribly urgent, like seasoning chicken drumsticks to be steamed.
Hence, till this fine sizzlingly hot day, I am still clueless as to why a change in my byline is desired.
I did however go on a mental journey of sorts and came to the conclusion that I definitely want to stick to “Stay at home mom” . I find it important for several reasons. Firstly, I’m too busy and distracted to be able to come up with a nicely packaged and coherent description of myself. ( I blame this on the gas due to cooking.)
Secondly, I think it fantastic that I can write what I write - book reviews of ’serious’ books- as a full time mom. I’d like to encourage men and women to rethink commonly held assumptions that full time moms/ homemakers share the same passion for cakes, bakes, flowers, house decorating and shopping. Women at home form such a powerful force in shaping society- upholding traditions, families, values, religion- and thus, in the shaping of theological understanding in their children (orthopraxy?). Women therefore- specifically, women who see their homemaking as a calling- do have an interest and a desire for theological learning. Theology is as alive in the messy corridors of crayon-printed walls and sauce-painted sofas, as in the spotless corridors of seminaries.
As a homeschooling mother with two daughters, the desire to clarify my position blazes with a particular keenness. I believe that I must relay the message to my children that as women, they can grasp theological learning, regardless of whatever careers they choose. I hope with all my heart, that as young women, they will be able to apply their knowledge and practice of theological understanding to every area of their lives: on the frontline of apologetics, the frontier of cross-cultural communication, the depths of personal struggles and ,of course, in the wonderfully discomfiting adventure of being a stay-at-home-mum.
Filed under: Exploring women's issues on May 25th, 2009 | 2 Comments »
